Living in a Small Town
by diamond.gloss
Summary: Based on 2-4th seasons of Gilmore girls same sort of story line,town, people.. but i changed it to make the end the way i like it. err, first story, so maybe not my best. i may continue it or i may not. it depends if you like it.. tell me what you think
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Robyn Bray sighed and sat down. It had been a long day; running towards the coffe machine to see if she could get anything for her parents, then realising that she couldn't actually get anything for them because they were.. well... in surgery.

It had happened last night. Robyn had gotten a call from the hospital while she was reading and all she had been told was that her parents were there and she had to come as quickly as possible.

So Robyn raced out of the 8th floor apartment that her and her parents had bought in Brooklyn, NY, hired a cab, and got to the hospital as fast as she could, trying not to think what the worst thing that could've happened to them was.

When she arrived at the hospital, the receptionist couldn't get off the phone to one of her friends and had made Robyn wait a full ten minutes before waving a vague direction as to where Robyn was to go. When Robyn had finally managed to locate the waiting room, the family doctor - Doctor Stevens- had explained to her, in detail, what had happened to her parents.

"They were in a car crash," he had explained gently, seeing her nervousness come out in every action she made, "a lorry crashed into their car- he was driving while drunk. The police are questioning him right now, if that makes you feel a little better." He tried consoling her, "We are doing some tests right now, but if you want to go home, then we wouldn't mind- we'll call you to tell you the details?"

"Oh.. n-no, that's fine, i'll stay here..." She had replied, smiling weakly.

The doctor had left here then, and had not come back since. Robyn was tired, hungry, and most of all worried. She thought people were supposed to forget about hunger when they were scared, that's what always happened in the movies.

Robyn sighed again. She shifted position again, so as her feet were propped up on the seat next to hers, and closed her eyes.. dozing..

"Miss Bray? Excuse me, Miss Bray?" A voice interrupted Robyn's sleep.

A third 'miss Bray' and a light shake from Doctor Stevens finally woke Robyn up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Yes?" She asked anxiously, "What's happening?"

The doctor paused for a while, as if unsure how to explain.

"What is it? What's happening?" she repeated.

The doctor opened his mouth, but paused again. After a few seconds he eventually said, "Your parents' lawyer is coming to discuss details with you. I'm very sorry, but neither of your parent's made it through the operations: They were both severely hurt... So sorry.."

He waited for an answer, but heard nothing; unsure of what to do, he left Robyn alone, to process his words.

Robyn inhaled sharply, after some more minutes of awkwardness. She blinked back the tears: they could wait for later.

Trying not to feel her heart slowly rip itself in two, she got up and walked slowly to the bathroom. But Robyn could not hold it in any longer. As soon as she had closed the bathroom door, she ran to a cubicle, closed the toilet seat lid, sat down and let a long wail of sadness rush through her body, until all her feelings came out of her in the form of tears.

She thought about her many Thanksgivings with her parents, the fun she had with them. She remembered all the holidays and the happy times she'd shared with them; the moments in her life where she'd craved for food and her mother had made it for her; or when her laptop broke and her father fixed it for her. She reminded herself of every single one of the times that her parents had looked after her, helped her and loved her, and let them all build up into a new set of tears, that would start right after the last set had finished.

Slowly, slowly, Robyn gathered herself together. She managed to stop crying until only the aftershock of hiccups were heard from her. She opened the cubicle door, walked calmly over to the mirror, washed her face and neatened her hair, and walked out of the toilets into the waiting presence of her parents' lawyer.

"Good evening, Robyn. You have my uttermost condolences." He said.

He was wearing a black suit, whereas he normally wore blue, which was strange, but then again, it was kind of normal if two of his clients had just died.

This little observation had distracted Robyn for a few seconds, but she said quickly, "Oh..Uh..Thanks.."

"So... Now I think we have to.. Um.. Discuss where your going to live; since you're only sixteen, you cannot live in your.. parents appartement all alone... We'll have to find you a legal guardian..."

***

The slam of a door was heard coming from a 'classic' american house, on a small road with trees running down both sides of it. It was large with many rooms and built out of wood. It had a wide front door with a front porch, a stretch of green grass that made up the front lawn, and the interior was simply decorated with plain, cream wallpaper, wooden floorboards and used-but-still-very-comfy furniture.

The house was situated in a small town near the border of New York, in Pennsylvania, which was named Siren Close. It was a small town, but was well looked upon, as it often held charitable fundraising events and never ceased to look after itself. The people were friendly - some a little strange, but what can one expect from them, after living all their lives there, being looked after by their elders, who were even more strange than them? Nevertheless, everyone always seemed to get along with each other, in a slightly dysfunctional way.

"I'm home!" called a female voice from the front door, then said, "Ah, what's the point? I live here on my own. No one to look after me..."

The woman who spoke walked into the living room, sighed dramatically as if sad and talking to an audience and flopped lazily onto the floral pattern sofa- letting her bag fall from her hand onto the floor and dropped her keys onto the coffee table, as she did so.

She was, of course, joking about no one looking after her: she had friends all over the town, but she lived with no one. A few years ago, she had moved in with her fiancé, in an apartment in New York, but one day, on her way home, she had caught sight of him with another woman- cheating on her. A few days later, she had already quit her job, bought the nicest house in Siren Close and moved in there immediatley, not waiting for her ex-fiancé to explain what was going on; she had always been suspicious of him, and it was a bit of a cliché anyway, everone knew that.

The reasons behind choosing to live here, in Siren Close were simple: she had always wanted a big house, and here she could find one; but, more importantly, her best friend had moved here after they had graduated from university and they had hardly had the time to keep in touch. This had been the perfect opportunity to start.

But now, she found herself more than a little lonley. The house was too big and she still wasn't completley over Leo, her ex. Totally pathetic, she knew, but she couldn't help it; she had tried dating other people, but she always found herself dumping them because of this 'feeling' that she had when she was with them. It wasn't like it was with Leo.

After lying on the sofa for a few minutes, she dragged herself up, and into the modernised country kitchen, to make herself dinner, but as soon as she opened the cupboard door, the doorbell rang.

She rolled her eyes- or rather her head-, scuffled to the door, opened it and tightened her grasp on the inside door knob to stop herself from slumping down to the floor from dismay.

"Yes?" She said to the towns eccentric mayor.

Immediatley, the mayor started ranting in his usual, annoyed tone, "Yes? Is that really how you address someone of my status? Do you know who i am? I take this job very seriously and this is the kind of thanks i get from ungrateful people like you, missy! Why, I don't even know why I bother sometimes-"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say it like that... I've... had a bad day" She said quickly and restrained herself from rolling her eyes as she tried to put on her best 'I'm-a-good-girl' act.

"Huh, well... never mind."

There was an awkward silence before the mayor started again, "Name?"

"Todd, you know my name! And why do you need it anyway?"

"I have to do the post today, and i need you to officially declare your name to me before i can hand over this letter," he waved a small, rectangular envelope in her face then continued, "So, name?"

"Emma Rosa Maverton" She replied, "And you know, the post usually comes in the morning, so if you're doing it tomorrow aswell, you may want to wake up a little earlier that usuall; people like to know what they've been sent!"

"Now, that's enough of your wit, Emma- Will you please sign here?"

She signed, retrieved the letter from Todd's firm grasp and closed the door.

***

As Emma closed the door behind her, she flipped over the envelope and looked at the return address. There wasn't one. The envelope itself looked formal, like a bank statement, yet it didn't have her bank logo on it, plus she'd already payed her monthly bills.

She ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter. It read:

Dear Miss Maverton,

It has come to my notice that you are the sister of the late Mrs Fiona Bray, who died yesterday along with her husband Mr Charles Bray, while in surgery, after a serious car crash.I also understand that Mr and Mrs Bray have a sixteen year old daughter, whom you have only met once in her life and who is no in need of guardianship. If you could be so kind, please may you call my office number at the top of this letter to discuss details. Thank you very much for your understanding.

My condolences,

Michael Foster

Smith and Fraser Junior Lawyer

Emma looked up. No one had told her that her sister had been in a car crash. No one had had the decency to even phone her! She was more angry than sad, but nevertheless, she still couldn't hold back some of the mischievous tears that had wriggled their escaped through her tightly shut eyelids, and down her cheeks.

In a haze, Emma put the letter down and picked up the phone. She dialed the number on the letter and held it to her ear. She heard the receiver dialing and waited a few seconds before a clatter on the other end of the telephone sounded, bringing her suddenly out of her reverie.

"Hello?" Said a woman's voice from the telephone, "Smith and Fraser Company, Michael Foster's office, how may I help you?"

"Yes, um. This is Emma Maverton. I was hoping to speak to Mr Fraser, please? Is he in? This call concerns the guardianship of Robyn Bray..."

Emma heard the woman typing on her computer keyboard- it was probably a very old computer with a screen that kept flickering, she hated those- and a minute later the woman said, "Yes, hold on, I'll put you right through to him..."

***

As Robyn walked towards the gathering of non-familiar family relatives, who had all dressed in the classic black outfits, she couldn't help noticing how many people were staring at her with obvious pity in their eyes. It took all her efforts to not suddenly turn around and run away, just to avoid the exposing looks.

She adjusted her coat and took her place near the top of the velvet lined coffins her parents were lying in, next to the reverend.

Robyn inhaled deeply, closing her eyes as she did so, and heard the reverend start the sermon.

"Dearly beloved," he said, in a clear, articulate voice, "We have gathered her today to witness..."

The classical music was playing; the people were chatting to one another and there had seemed to be no problems during the course of the event taking place. Yet Robyn had sat down in a corner, avoiding all eye contact while sipping her orange juice.

The juice had long since been finished, and, having nothing to do, Robyn had decided to check on the guests.

As she was walking through the throng of people, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Robyn?" said a voice from behind her, followed by a cough.

She turned around, it was her parents' lawyer .

He continued, "Ah, yes, i would like you to meet your new guardian, Miss Emma Maverton, your aunt..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been a long drive to Siren Close, and in was almost night. The journey had been a quiet one, neither Emma nor Robyn really knowing what to say to each other. They had been content with listening to a Led Zeppelin CD and looking in different directions. Every so often, Emma would ask questions like, "So, what have you done in the past few years?" and, "What kind of stuff did you do in Manhattan?"

Otherwise, Robyn would ask questions such as, "What's it like in Siren Close?" or, "What music do you listen to?". But mostly the car was silent apart from the occasional screech of brakes or ticking noise from the heater.

When the car turned into the driveway, they both got out and headed round to the boot of the car to get Robyn's suitcases, but both of them had crashed into one another when trying to get at it.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Said Robyn apologetically.

"It doesn't matter," replied Emma, "It happens to me all the time!"

She grinned, and carried the bags to the house.

"So! Welcome! Make yourself at home! Does it matter if you sleep on the couch for a while, while I get your room sorted out? It was kind of short notice and I never got time to clean it up for you. The rooms still full of my old junk!"

She smiled and Robyn replied, "No that's fine, I can help you if you want?..."

"Are you sure? That wouldn't be too much? I know you've had a lot going on lately..."

"No no, It's fine, I'd be happy to help!"

"OK! Well.. Great! So are you hungry? Because i know a great diner we can go to a few streets away!'

"Oh my God! Totally! I didn't eat anything for lunch and I'm starving!"

"Alright, then, let's go!" said Emma, and they ran to the door as fast as possible, racing each other to see who could get there first.

The diner was small but comfortable, with little booths with fake leather seats. Emma and Robyn put their stuff down and went to the counter to order.

"OK," said Emma to Robyn, "This is how you do it: you NEVER look at the menu, because that spoils your appetite and it takes too long. You HAVE to know what your going to order. This time, I'll order something for you because I know what there is. Don't worry, i won't give you something disgusting!" She laughed as a waiter came to serve them. He was cute, and about 16 or 17 years old.

"What can I get you?" he asked in a warm-bad-boy voice.

"Hey Jackson! What's up?" said Emma cheerfully.

"My name's not Jackson."

"Oh, well, that must but the guy who worked here before you... Hmm..."

"You mean the one who was fired three months ago?"

Emma's eyes twinkled with guilty pride. "Well. Pff. Hey, anyway..." then rapidly changing the subject, she said, "SO, we would like two cheeseburgers with extra fries on the side, please!"

"Two cheeseburgers with extra fries.. OK, coming right up Em."

"Thank you" said Emma, "Hey you know what, this here.." she indicated to Robyn, "Is Robyn Bray, my niece, she's sixteen, and coming to stay with MOI!"

The guy looked at Robyn for a second too many and Robyn felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She looked away quickly.

"Hi," he said shyly.

Robyn coughed and muttered a "Hey" back to him.

Sensing that boys weren't Robyn's forte, Emma smoothly changed the conversation.

"So," she said, as if nothing had happened, "You know, Robyn and I share something in common!"

"Oh really?" Said the waiter, dragging his eyes aways from Robyn, who exhaled gratefully, "What's that?"

"WELL. We both like.... wait for it!... Food!"

The waiter's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Oh good god, not another one! It's hard enough to find enough food to feed you!" He said jokingly.

"Well, I'm sorry!" said Robyn, finally regaining her ability to speak, "But with me, you have to work twice as hard: I get hungry approximately every three hours!"

The waiter's mouth formed an 'o' shape in false- horror and they laughed for a few seconds before he had to go and serve some new customer's.

"Thank you for the.. conversation twist thing." said Robyn sheepishly, "I have absolutely no experience around guys!"

Emma smiled mischievously, and said, "You have much to learn, my friend.."

They sat down, and suddenly became serious.

"So," said Emma, "Ive signed you up for the local school, which is half a mile out of town, so you may want to borrow my car to get there, otherwise you can take the bus? You start on Monday, and it's Thursday now. I wanted to give you a little time to sort yourself out."

"OK," Robyn smiled, "Thanks for that! To tell you the truth, I hate starting right away!"

"Ok. So then, we've already explained about the room: it's ready, there are just a few things to clean out. Then there's a spare house key at home, which I can give you. And basically that's is!" Emma leaned back in her chair.

"Really?" asked Robyn, "No house rules? That's it?"

"Why should there be any house rules? Your sixteen! You need your bit of freedom; just don't get drunk or sleep with anyone you don't want to. That's all, but I'd prefer if you came home before midnight on school nights. NO skipping school, though I'm not sure if you're the kind of person who would do that. And last but not least: Sunday nights equals movie night. The only good movie theater is miles out so we rent a DVD, from the rental store just across the square- you can see it from here."

They peered out of the window and looked across, but it was too dark to see much.

"Okay.. Maybe you can't see it from here, now, but you will be able to in the morning" said Emma, grinning.

"Two cheeseburgers with extra chips!" said the waiter from before as he deposited the piled high plate onto the table, "I know why people don't normally order this, you people are the only ones who can down this amount of food! There's something wrong with your metabolisms!" he told them both and turned away.

"Hey! I just remembered your name!" Emma called excitedly after him, "It's Jason!"

"Nope!" said the boy, "Still wrong!"

"SO!" said Emma as she and Robyn were walking back from the diner. She continued, pointing to a building on the opposite side of the square, "That's the, umm.. well it's like the all-in-one-shop.."

Robyn looked up at her quizzically.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Well, technically, it's supposed to be supermarket, but the owner started selling everything -not counting clothes, that is- because most of the shops in this town closed down: they just went to the closest city they could find that they could drive to." Emma explained.

"Ahhh, i understand, we had that where we lived before New York."

"Really? Where did you live?"

"Well, you already know that i was born in San Fransisco; I lived there for two years. Then we moved to Los Angeles, and for a while we stayed in Las Vegas - I think about six months- but we all hated it. So we moved to Orlando, in Florida. That was fun." Robyn giggled, remembering, "Then we went to some place in Illinois, I forget the name, it was a tiny village, I think it was the 'shop-a-like' village.. Anyway. After that we moved back to California, but this time to Malibu! It was amazing..." Robyn paused again, "So then we moved to New York, and then here..."

Robyn had tears in her eyes when she got to the last part.?

"Oh baby, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you sad by asking!" apologized Emma when she noticed.

"No, no. It's ok. Come on, let's go in- I'll raced you!" Robyn started running towards the house, which was now in view.

"Wha-..? Hey! That's not fair! You had a head start!" Said Emma, and started chasing after Robyn, laughing.

Robyn arrived first, with Emma close on her tail. They doubled over, laughing hysterically. Emma let themselves into the house.

"Wow, that was.. weird.." said Robyn, still grinning.

"Haha. Yeah..." replied Emma, yawning, "You know: you might have lived all over the US, but I beat you by miles!"

"Really?" asked Robyn with interest, "Where have you lived?"

"Everywhere -or most places, anyway.. Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Israel, India, China.. Uhhh... Then there was.. Turkey, Greece, England,

Denmark, Spain, Portugal, France, Canada, I've visited Brazil, Argentina, and.. yeah, i've live in a few different states in the US."

"How did you live in all those places? your five years younger than.. mom... So that makes you about thirty-five, when did you ave time to live in all those places?" asked Robyn.

"Well, I lived in most of those places for about six months: I was a diplomat, but I got bored of traveling so much, so I changed jobs, and moved here!" Emma yawned again, "Come on. Off to bed -or couch."

"OK. Goodnight!"

Robyn settled herself down on the couch and Emma turned the lights and walked up the stairs to her room.

Robyn woke up seeing the sun shining through the windows. She stretched, as Emma walked into the sitting room holding a tray with a bowl of cereal on it.

"Morning!" She said, "I don't know what you normally have for breakfast, but this is what I have."

"Oh no! That's great, it's what I normally have anyway!" Robyn said and took the tray gratefully.

"OK, then. I have to get to work, and you can walk around the town, or do whatever. It's not possible to get lost. So.. Yeah, that's all. If you need anything, then you call me; you know my number."

"Thatnk!" Said Robyn, "I'll see you later then! Bye!"

"Bye!" replied Emma, as she took her coat from the hanger next to the door, and left.

Robyn turned on the TV, and started eating her breakfast. Once she was finished, she shuffled over to the kitchen and washed her bowl out.

She sighed, not knowing what to do. Finally, she decided to tour the town, although she knew it wouldn't take long.

Robyn got dressed and walked out of the door, taking a book with her and making sure to take her keys with her: she often forgot them.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets as she walked down the street, and she turned a corner, where she crashed into someone.

"Oh! Oh! I'm sorry!" She regretted, as she dropped down on her knees to pick up the persons things that she had knocked over.

The person chuckled and said, "It's ok. "

Robyn looked up sharply, recognizing the voice.

"Hey!" she said, "It's you! From the diner! ... What is your name?"

He laughed, "Typical Emma, She's not good with names. I'm Jacob." He held out a hand.

"Hi." said Robyn reaching out to shake it.

Jason smiled cheekily, "I was going to help you up."

Robyn blushed, realizing that she had finished collecting the fallen objects and was still sitting on the pavement.

"Right. Yeah... Yes, well.." she stuttered, embarrassed.

I probably look like an idiot, she thought to herself, and she took his hand, levering herself off the ground.

"Thanks," she said, after a pause, "Hey! Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Yeah, probably, but I have History now, and that's really boring. I always skip it.. Probably why I'm flunking it..." was Jacobs reply.

Robyn smiled, "Oh really? Wow, you must be a bad influence then.."

They both chuckled shyly.

"Well," Jacob said finally, "I'd better go now, gotta.. go.."

"Yeah, bye!" Robyn waved and walked on, forcing herself not to look back.

She arrived in the square, and looked around. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, so it looked as though for the rest of the day would be gray.

Robyn walked over to a bench, thankful that she had brought a book with her. She sat down, and opened it, ready to continue reading it. But just as she had read the first sentence, a voice behind her startled her. She jumped.

"You again?" the voice said. It sounded like the person was smiling, "What are you, stalking me?"

Robyn turned around, "What?" she said, "Like I would ever do that!" She looked around innocently, but acting guilty.

"Anyway," she continued, "It's actually more you stalking me. because, you see, I don't know my way around..."

"What's your point?" Jacob asked, his expression turning from happy to confused at what she was saying.

"... I've really got no idea!" Robyn replied. Jacob snickered, at which Robyn replied indignantly, "Hey! That's what happens when I don't know what to say! I start talking crap! Anyway, I thought you had to go do something."

"Yeah, but then I bumped into you and I couldn't resist scaring you!" grinned Jacob, turning away.

"Well thank you so much! That's so kind of you!" called Robyn sarcastically, scowling.

"Pleasure! I thought you wanted to read! Bye again!"

Pff, thought Robyn, turning back to her book, which she opened again.

***


End file.
